Foster ’87 Studies Japanese Monsters

In his recent book Pandemonium and Parade: Japanese Monsters and the Culture of Yokai (University of California Press, 2009), Michael Dylan Foster ’87 focuses on Japanese water sprites, mountain goblins, shape-shifting animals, and the monsters known as yokai.

He considers the role of these creatures in folklore, encyclopedias, literature, art, science, games, manga, magazines, and movies, and brings attention to an abundance of valuable and previously understudied material.

Foster traces yokai over three centuries, from their appearance in 17th-century natural histories to their starring role in 20th-century popular media as he examines the monsters’ meanings within the Japanese cultural imagination.